heartbeats

So the first time I heard José González – Heartbeats, I was probably about 8 years old and heard it playing during the Sony Bravia advertisement. I don’t have the best memory, considering this was about 14 years ago, but I do remember it was the best advert I had ever seen! And I wanted to be the kid in the picture!

I remember thinking about where this kid was, like, I had to know. I wanted to be him, watching all those colourful bouncy balls roll down the streets of San Francisco. I even wanted to live in his house and wear his clothes I was that jealous. Ever since then, San Francisco has been the dream location, Filbert Street to be exact. I NEED TO VISIT THIS PLACE ASAP!!!

But being 8 years old, I had no idea what this song was, I just knew I liked the sound of it; I didn’t just like it though, I loved it.

So I carried on as normal, hoping one day I would find the name of this amazing song. But, back in the day, it wasn’t so easy, I couldn’t just google the lyrics. I’m also pretty sure we didn’t have any wifi until I turned 13 anyway.

So when I was about 11 or 12, I made a trip to my stepdad’s old house with my family, and he had the radio playing on this huge CD/cassette system with huge speakers. Next thing I know, the song was playing on the radio, and for some reason, I instantly knew that it was THE song! So, I ran up to the speakers and sat down right next to them, until the song was over, saying “this is my favourite song”, over and over again. But I still didn’t know the name of the song, so I made it my mission to find out. I didn’t.

More time had passed and I had kinda forgot all about it. I was probably about 16, and I heard Mumford & Sons – Winter Winds for the first time, and I thought this was it. I thought I had found the song again, but I was wrong, again. I didn’t actually find this out, until about a year or so later, when I was 17. While watching an episode of ‘One Tree Hill’, in the summer before starting my second and last year of college, I heard the song! And I knew as soon as it started playing! Season 5, episode 5 of One Tree Hill, you lifesaver!

Immediately, I went onto YouTube, searched for the episode, found a video of the exact scene, scrolled through the comments and hoped that someone had left the song title and artist in there. They did.

José González – Heartbeats

Later, I watched the video, and all the memories came back! The bouncy balls, the kid, San Francisco, everything!

What a coincidence that I found the name of my all-time favourite song, just from watching my all-time favourite TV show. Weird!

For some reason, this song has followed me through my life, even more reason for it to be my favourite song. I have since bought the CD, the CD/DVD version and the 7″ vinyl. Oh, and seen it performed live by the man himself!